<researchconnell>

Documentation of endangered languages and cultures in the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland
Principal Investigator: David Zeitlyn , University of Kent at Canterbury ( UK )
Co-Investigator (Project Officer): Bruce Connell, ( Glendon College, York University and University of Kent )
Funding Agency: Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK
Duration of project: January 2006 – September 2009

This project is funded by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council. It is carried out by David Zeitlyn and Bruce Connell with three PhD students, Sascha Griffiths, Marieke Martin and Laura Robson at the University of Kent and supervised jointly by Connell and Zeitlyn. The project focuses three endangered languages the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland, Somyev, Njanga, and Wawa. Connell and Zeitlyn have been concentrating on the Somyev, a small group of blacksmiths whose language and culture are on the verge of disappearing; Robson is preparing a descriptive grammar of Njanga and on documenting aspects of their culture and history, with Griffiths and Martin taking a similar approach to Wawa. For each language, the approach has been to explore the connection between language endangerment and culture change and language ecology. The project is nearing completion.

More detailed information on the above-summarized research project can be found on the following web page:

http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/dz/AHRC_Languages

Publications:

Connell, Bruce & David Zeitlyn. In press. Sociolinguistic studies of West and Central Africa. Martin Ball & X (eds.)

Connell, Bruce Language ecology and language endangerment: An instance from the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland. Accepted for publication in Journal of West African Languages. (Revised version of a paper presented at the 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Gainesville FL, March 2007.)

Language diversity and language choice: a view from an African market. Submitted to Anthropological Linguistics.

Connell, Bruce Aspects of the phonetics and phonology of Somyev. To be submitted to Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.

Connell, Bruce & David Zeitlyn. In preparation. The Somba Blacksmiths: their language and culture. A monograph, publication under consideration with Rüdiger Köppe, Verlag.

Language ecology and language endangerment in the Mambila region of Nigeria and Cameroon
Principal Investigator: Bruce Connell , Glendon College , York University
Collaborators: David Zeitlyn, University of Kent at Canterbury ; Ferkijika Fanso, Université Yaoundé
Duration of project: open-ended
Description:
This project examines the relation between language endangerment and language ecology with a view to understanding the causes of language endangerment in this region of West – Central Africa . The project is multi-facetted, involving work on the history, anthropology and ethnology, and sociolinguistics of the region, as well as the linguistic description of several endangered languages.

More detailed information on the above-summarized research project can be found on the following web page:http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/dz/index.html

Publications:

Connell, B, (i2007). Language endangerment in Central Africa. In Brenzinger, M. (ed.) Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 163-178.
Zeitlyn, D & B Connell. (2003) Fractal history on an African frontier: Mambila – Njerep – Mandulu. Journal of African History, 44: 117–138.
Connell, B. (2002) Phonetic/Phonological Variation and Language Contraction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 157: 167–185.
Connell, B & D Zeitlyn (2000). Njerep: A postcard from the edge. Studies in African Linguistics 29.1: 95–125.
Connell, B. (2000). The integrity of Mambiloid. In H. E. Wolff and O. Gensler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress of African Linguistics, Leipzig. Cologne : Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Pp. 197–213.
Connell B. (1998). Moribund languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland. In M. Brenzinger, (Ed.), Endangered Languages in Africa. Cologne : Rüdiger Köppe. Pp. 207–225.

Documentation and descriptive work on EGA and endangered language of Côte d'Ivoire
Principal Investigator: Dafydd Gibbon, Universität Bielefeld, Germany;

Co-Investigators: Bruce Connell , Glendon College, York University; Firmin Ahoua, Université Cocody, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Funding Agency: Originally funded by Volkswagen Stiftung, Germany
Duration of project: (funded project) September 2000 – Oct 2001; ongoing work by project members unfunded.

This project provides a detailed documentation and description of Ega, an endangered language of Côte d'Ivoire , as well as developing tools and techniques for language documentation.

Original (funded) project description: “The Ega initiative aims to develop a model for the computational language documentation of an endangered language, involving design and performance of fieldwork & documentation of the forms & functions of an endangered language, based on workable, efficient computational linguistic & phonetic methods (see article on the WELD paradigm), and including the development of appropriate software: fieldwork, description and documentation support tools.
The focus is on Ega, an endangered language isolate so far assigned to the Kwa family and surrounded by a language of the Kru family (Dida), in the Ivory Coast , West Africa .”
Ongoing work by Connell includes work on the phonetics and phonology of Ega and an analysis of the sociolinguistics of its endangered status.
More detailed information on the above-summarized research project can be found on the following web page :
http://coral.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/LangDoc/EGA

Selected Publications:
Connell, B, Ahoua, F, & Gibbon, D. (2002) Ega. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 32 .1: 99–104.
Connell, B., Ahoua, F, & Gibbon, D. (2001) Sociolinguistic tools for the assessment of language endangerment DOBES Technical Report X (Ega) .
Gibbon, D, B Connell & F Ahoua (2001) Lexical tools for the documentation of endangered languages: requirements analysis checklist. DOBES Technical Report 4 (Ega) .
Connell, B, Ahoua, F, & Gibbon, D. Ega: (to appear). A preliminary assessment of endangerment.
(See web site for further publications)

Documentation and descriptive work on Mambila and related languages (Nigeria-Cameroon)

Principal Investigator: Bruce Connell, Glendon College, York University
Collaborator: David Zeitlyn, University of Kent at Canterbury ( UK )
Funding Agency: Original funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, UK , (1994–2000)
Duration of project: open-ended
Description:
The project is broadly concerned with the description of Mambila and related languages in the Nigeria Cameroon broderland. One strand of research involves investigation of the phonetics/phonolgy of Mambila, especially its tone system; another strand explores the history of the Mambiloid group. This project overlaps the separate project “ Language Ecology and Language Endangerment in the Mambila Region of Nigeria and Cameroon ”.
More detailed information on the above-summarized research project can be found on the following web page: http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/dz/index.html

Selected Publications:
Connell B. (2005) Pitch realization of questions vs statements in Mambila. In A. Akinlabi (Ed.) Proceedings of the 4th World Congress of African Linguistics. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
Connell, B. (2004) Tone, utterance length and F0 Scaling. B. Bel & I. Marlien (Eds.) International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages: Emphasis on tone languages. Proceedings. Beijing : Institute of Linguistics , Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Pp. 41–43.
Connell, B. (2003) Pitch realization and the four tones of Mambila. In S. Kaji (Ed.), Cross-Linguistic Studies of Tonal Phenomena Tokyo : Research Institute for the Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa . Pp. 181–197.
Connell, B. (2002) Phonetic/Phonological Variation and Language Contraction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 157: 167–185.
Connell, B. (2002) Aspects of the phonetics of Cambap. Studies in African Linguistics, 31 .1/2: 179–210.
Connell, B. (2001) An Introduction to the Mambiloid Languages. In N. M. Mutaka, & S. B. Chumbow (Eds.), Research Mate in African linguistics. Focus on Cameroon: a fieldworker's tool for deciphering the stories Cameroonian languages have to tell; in honor of Professor Larry M. Hyman. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Pp. 79–92.
Connell, B & D Zeitlyn (2000). Njerep: A postcard from the edge. Studies in African Linguistics 29 .1: 95–125.

A survey and archive of endangered languages on the Adamawa escarpment of Cameroon

Principal Investigator: Bruce Connell and David Zeitlyn , University of Kent ; Co-Investigator: Collaborator : Prof B Chumbow, Université Yaoundé I; Prof N Mutaka, Université Yaoundé I
Funding Agency: UNESCO Intangible Heritage Unit.
Duration of project: Pilot project: April 2005 – March 2006; full project (if funded) April 2006 – 2008.
Description:
The project will train local scholars in survey and documentation techniques relevant to language endangerment. The project has been approved in principle and funding granted for a pilot study, ‘Sociolinguistic survey of Adamawa escarpment area to assess the vitality of local languages'.
More detailed information on the above-summarized research project can be found on the following web page: (to be established)

Publications:
(work in progress)

Documentation of Defaka and Nkoroo

Principal Investigators: Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Rutgers University, Bruce Connell, Glendon College, York University.

Duration of project: March 2007 – February 2010

Collaborators: Mekuri Ozo-Ndimele, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, USA. Its goal the documentation and analysis of two endangered languages of the Ijoid branch of Niger-Congo, and aims to contribute to our understanding of the nature and history of the linguistic diversity of the Niger Delta. It is carried out by two Principal Investigators, Akinbiyi Akinlabi (Rutgers University) and Bruce Connell (English, and Glendon DLLL), and also involves the active collaboration of researchers at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria (Ozo-mekuri Ndimele), thus fostering international academic cooperation. The project supports three PhD students: Ebitare Obikudo is working on a grammar of Nkoroo and Inoma Essien is working on Defaka, both of whom are in the linguistics program at University of Port Harcourt, and Will Bennett at Rutgers. Annual field trips have been made to the region by Akinlabi, Connell and Bennett (most recently in July-August 2009) where they work together with the Nigerian colleagues and students.

Akinlabi, Akinbiyi & Bruce Connell (2008). The interaction of linguistic theory, linguistic description and linguistic documentation. In Ozo-mekuri Ndimele, Imelda Udoh & Ogbonna Anyanwu (eds.). Critical Issues in the Study of Linguistics, Languages and Literatures in Nigeria: A festschrift for Conrad Max Benedict Brann. Port Harcourt: Linguistics Association of Nigeria, 571–589. (Revised version of a paper presented at the Conference of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria, Uyo, Nov 2008.)

Akinlabi, Akinbiyi, Bruce Connell & Ebitare Obikudo. The Tonal Structure of Nkoroo Nominal Constructions. To appear in Eno-abasi Urua & Thorsten Trippel (eds.) (Revised version of a paper presented at the 26th West Africa Linguistics Congress Winneba Ghana, July 28-August 3, 2008.)

Akinlabi, Akinbiyi, Bruce Connell. (2009). The Tone Structure of Noun Phrases in Defaka. Paper presented to the Sixth World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne, 17-21 August, 2009.

Connell, Bruce & Akinbiyi Akinlabi. (2008) Phonetics and Phonology in Language Documentation. Plenary address, 26th West Africa Linguistics Congress, Winneba Ghana, July 28-August 3, 2008.

Connell, Bruce, Will Bennett, Inoma Essien, Ebitare Obikudo, Akinbiyi Akinlabi & Ozo-mekuri Ndimele. (2009). Realizational differences between questions and statements in Defaka. Paper presented at the 40th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Urbana-Champaign, April 2009.

Connell, Bruce, Will Bennett, Inoma Essien, Ebitare Obikudo, Ozo-mekuri Ndimele & Akinbiyi Akinlabi. (2009). The Defaka – ?j? Relationship Revisited. Paper presented to the Sixth World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne, 17-21 August, 2009.